1. Field of the Invention
This disclosure relates generally to video display devices, and more particularly, to television mounting systems for flat panel televisions.
2. Description of Related Art
Historically, electronic equipment was, and still largely is, located and stored on some type of shelving system, console, or stand for convenient operation and use. For example, a home entertainment center (or stereo console) is a piece of furniture seen in many homes, which houses major electronic items, such as a television set, a VCR and/or DVD player, stereo components (such as an AM/FM tuner, multi-disc compact disc changer, record player, one or more cassette players, and graphic equalizer), and cable or satellite television receivers. These electronics typically require some type of cords, cables and/or wires (which are generally referred to herein as wires) either interconnected with the electronics or connected to an electrical outlet. Typically though, the electronics are spatially separated such that these wires are easily viewable and visually unappealing. In the alternative, large entertainment centers and stands were used to house all the electronics and hide the wires. However, such entertainment centers and stands were often very bulky and greatly contrasted with the appearance of the wall.
The invention of the flat panel televisions and computer monitors has substantially reduced the need for these large pieces of furniture. Furthermore, these flat panel televisions are very thin in comparison to the older, conventional CRT televisions, making them suitable for wall-mounting. As a result, smaller pieces of furniture can be utilized to house the remaining electronics.
Wall-mounting of televisions, however, has problems of its own. While flat panel televisions are much smaller than conventional CRT televisions, they are still very heavy. Thus, the flat panel televisions are typically mounted with large screws and mounted into studs on the wall. Furthermore, because the flat panel televisions is mounted to the wall, it is separated from the outlet and the other interconnected electronics (e.g., cable box, DVR player, surround system, etc.) and lacking an efficient wire management system. Thus, visually unappealing exposed wires run along the wall from the flat panel televisions to the outlet and the associated electronics.
Moreover, a wall is a permanent structure and provides no access points to hide the wires and run the wires within the wall. Therefore, to alternatively run wires within the wall (and thus hide the wires), the dry wall had to be removed, a wire management system installed (e.g., a conduit for running wires from the television down to the remaining interconnected electronics with openings at different points where electronic devices are located), and a new dry wall permanently installed over the wire management system. And since the dry wall is permanent, it can be very difficult to add or remove wires, requiring fishing the wire in or out of the different openings within the conduit. Thus, although the wires may run behind the wall to hide the visually unappealing exposed wires, this is a very costly, time-consuming, and difficult process, requiring significant structural and aesthetic changes to the wall in order to hide the wires and to access them again after they have been concealed.
Accordingly, there is a need for an adjustable television stand that can support televisions of different sizes and shapes in a variety of different manners (e.g., attached to a wall or storage console) that also has an efficient design and system for managing wires.